‘Happy’s Place’ Guest Star Jane Lynch Talks Val’s Deception and What Her Relationship With Gabby Will Look Like Moving Forward (Exclusive)

Friday’s episode of Happy’s Place finally introduced Gabby’s mother, played by Jane Lynch, who broke it down with PopCulture.com.

Lynch’s Val made a surprise appearance at the tavern, bringing up some mixed feelings for Gabby.

The episode, “A New Chapter,” gave fans a look at Gabby and Val’s complex dynamic as Bobbie tried to help Gabby navigate their delicate relationship. Meanwhile, after hearing stories from Gabby about her childhood, Isabella and Steve tried to find out whether they were as bad as she claimed. It was an intense and complicated episode, to say the least, and Lynch had some thoughts about what went down and shared what’s next for this mother-daughter duo. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: Gabby’s mom is a bit of a narcissist. And when she makes her first appearance at the tavern, it’s not exactly known why, even after Bobbie admitted to accidentally inviting her. Val ends up complimenting everyone. Why was it important for this version of Val to be everyone’s first impression of her, considering what we know of her from Gabby?

Jane Lynch: That’s how they operate. It’s very deceptive. It’s very manipulative. So, Val has been playing this game with people in her life since she was born. So, she doesn’t know any other way of operating than come in and make everybody think she’s the most wonderful person in the world and then put the knife in her daughter’s back.

PC: At one point, Gabby talks about this talking doll that she got, but she and Val tell very different versions of what happened with it. In your own opinion, why do you think they felt the need not to fully tell the truth about what happened?

Lynch: Gabby’s truth is probably the truth. It’s certainly not Val’s. So it’s kind of interesting to see. Val’s version of the story aggrandizes her and turns her into a hero who just wanted nothing but the best for her daughter. Whereas Gabby’s version is probably what happened, and it wasn’t very nice of me.

PC: We do see more of what Val is like after Gabby and Val spend time together, and Val finds out that Gabby was trying to get pregnant, really making the pregnancy all about her. This is the first time that we get a sense of who she is. What was your favorite part about portraying this kind of character who has so many layers?

Lynch: She has two layers. She doesn’t have a ton of layers. “I need to make you love me, and then I need to manipulate you.” So that’s all that for me as an actor, it was looking at those opportunities to play the really nice person and kind of overdo it and really charm the people, really look them in the eye because people want nothing more than to be listened to and heard and acknowledged. It’s like, “I see you.” And she knows how to play that game. Val knows how to do that with people. And first of all, it’s in the writing. It was there. Was just smart enough to look it up. That was the most fun is figuring out how to play those manipulations.

PC: Going off of that, they both have this very intense conversation where Gabby says she can’t get pregnant, but Val simply says stuff happens and reveals that she got a divorce. What was it like playing out that scene and dealing with all these different emotions?

Lynch: Oh, easy. She doesn’t have emotions. It’s just when it suits her. It just falls out of her mouth. “I got divorced.” Well, she wasn’t afraid to say it. But it served her before to keep it a secret. And making the pregnancy all about her, that serves her. So, there wasn’t a lot of layers there. It’s like, “Will this serve me?” is the question she always asks herself.

PC: The episode ends with Gabby admitting that she wants to try to have an actual relationship with her mother. Assuming we’ll be seeing you in more episodes, what can we expect the relationship to look like moving forward?

Lynch: I don’t know. But I will tell you what it will look like. Nothing will change. Where, and the who, and the what will change. But what goes on, nothing changes. Her mother’s not gonna change. Gabby’s going to keep going to that well, and then she’s not gonna be getting water ever.

PC: Obviously, you are no stranger to sitcoms, but is there anything that sets Happy’s Place apart from other projects that you’ve done?

Lynch: First of all, there aren’t a lot of multi-cams anymore, and I love that those are the sitcoms that have the live audience. And it’s just a particular kind of style, and it has a particular kind of rhythm. So what was so wonderful about this was to be back on one of those shows. And the writers are so freaking great. The writers are so good.

And the set, these people, the crew, and the cast, everybody’s happy. It’s the happiest show, I think, I’ve ever… oh, Happy’s Place. It makes sense, I guess. It’s really one of the happiest shows I’ve ever been on. And the tapings. Sometimes when you do a sitcom, they go in till, like, 11:00 at night. We’ll leave at like 7:00. They’re kind of committed. Then we’re not doing rocket science here. It’s simple, and so that’s what we do.

PC: Going off of that, what have you loved most about being on the show and playing such a complex character?

Lynch: She’s not that complex, honey. She’s simple. That’s what’s so great about it is that she’s so simple. There were no challenges. Once you figure out what the formula is for this course, it’s very simple. What can I get from this? Then you just have fun coming up with the different ways she does each time, leading people to believe that she really does care, but she doesn’t.

New episodes of Happy’s Place air on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.